A remarkable debut by a new young filmmaker “I have no idea what I’m doing with my career,” Linh Tran candidly stated via phone interview. That uncertainty is confidently felt throughout her debut feature, “Waiting for the Light to Change.” Tran’s film, w ...
‘Better Luck Tomorrow’: 20 Years Later
Tackling the legacy of the greatest Asian American filmThis article contains spoilers.On October 4, 2019, the LA Times’ released an article titled “The 20 best Asian American films of the last 20 years.” And number one on their list was the 2002 crime dra ...
To Remember Is to Set Free
Julie Ha and Eugene Yi Transnationalize the Roots of Anti-Asian Hate in ‘Free Chol Soo Lee’ Asian/American films incepted out of the impulse to speak back, and perhaps more critically, they carved a political space to speak from. First-time directors ...
Asian/American documentary filmmaking and resistance: A conversation with Renee Tajima-Peña
Written By: Kano Umezaki Back in late June of 2021, I had the pleasure of speaking with documentary filmmaker and activist, Renee Tajima-Peña, about the PBS “Asian Americans” series, the origins of the Asian/American political film movement, and the s ...
Anne Hu’s love letter to her mother is a quintessential Asian American story
Written By: Aditya Sharma If you are the child of immigrants who grew up in the United States, odds are you have experienced a lunchbox moment. Odds are that the food you brought looks, smells and tastes different (read: better). But the feeling of ...
‘The mentality and environment we create is something that’s always founded in love’: An interview with filmmaker Jalena Keane-Lee
Written By: Kano Umezaki As we celebrate Asian/Pacific/American Heritage Month, I found it important to think about ways in which filmmaking can support the Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) community materially through co ...
Yeena Sung: The actor’s agency
From theatre kid to TV star to theatre again Written By: Demi Guo The actor’s agency “When I first came to the States, the thing that kept me sane was taking acting classes from an after-school program,” Yeena Sung said. Moving is difficult for all chil ...
‘Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir’: Reflections on an Asian American literary legacy
Written By: Kyubin Kim For many accomplished and aspiring Asian American writers, myself included in the latter, Amy Tan’s novel “The Joy Luck Club” was our gateway drug into the Asian American literary canon. Published in 1989, “The Joy Lu ...
Remembering Corky Lee
Written By: Jeremy Lim It’s been a little more than three months since the world lost Corky Lee, a moment of intense sadness for a whole community. However, in celebration of Corky Lee Day, let’s look back at the life and legacy of a legendary Asian Ame ...